The result of tomorrow’s Minnesota-Wisconsin football game isn’t “life or death” for either program but the outcome carries significance beyond a typical Big Ten game.

Tim Brewster refers to the Gophers as an “ascending program.”  The 3-1 Gophers were 7-6 last season after an awful 1-11 beginning in Brewster’s first year as head coach.  A win over the Badgers would further substantiate the “ascending” description.

Bret Bielema’s Badgers are 4-0 after a disappointing 7-6 record last year.  The season before Wisconsin was 9-4 after Bielema had started his career as Wisconsin head coach with a 12-1 record.  “The what have you done for me lately” crowd in Madison has been critical of Bielema.  A win over the Gophers, his fourth straight, would dial down criticism while placing the undefeated Badgers at 2-0 in the Big Ten.

Tomorrow’s winner impacts perception of not only fans and media, but probably recruits.  The Gophers haven’t defeated the Badgers in Minneapolis since 2003.  A Minnesota team last won in Madison in 1994.  In the previous 20 years Wisconsin has defeated the Gophers 14 times but Minnesota leads the series 59-51-8.

Bielema said on regional TV a few years ago that the Badgers consider “Minneapolis” part of their recruiting territory.  Tomorrow the Badgers take the field here with eight Minnesota natives on the roster including significant contributors in wide receiver Isaac Anderson, kick returner and wide receiver David Gilreath (both from Minneapolis) and linebacker Blake Sorensen (Eden Prairie).  While the Gophers have several Wisconsin natives on their roster, those players aren’t as productive as the Badger trio.

The Gophers have verbal commitments for their 2010 recruiting class from three Wisconsin players, according to Rivals.com.  All are rated three star players. https://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/commitlist.asp?SID=880&Year=2010&School=46

For the Gophers to recruit Wisconsin successfully they obviously have to produce better on the field than in the past.  Minnesota hasn’t been to a New Year’s Day bowl game since 1962.  Wisconsin has won three Rose Bowls and been to other New Year’s Day games in the last 20 years including two under Bielema.

A win by the Gophers figures to further improve player confidence.  All but one of the starters was on last year’s team that collapsed after a 7-1 start, losing five straight games.  Among the losses was a 55-0 defeat at home to Iowa.

The Gophers say they are better and more resilient than last year.  A win or loss will test that opinion.  A victory keeps momentum going toward the following week’s game, Homecoming with Purdue.  The Boilermakers look like a lower level conference team and the Gophers could be 3-0 in the Big Ten after the next two Saturdays.

A Wisconsin loss tomorrow might set the Badgers up for three consecutive conference defeats. The Badgers play at Ohio State a week from Saturday, and then come home to face another favorite for the conference championship, Iowa.

And then, too, the Gopher-Badger game is always significant for its storied rivalry and bragging rights.  This is major college football’s most played rivalry with 118 games in the record book.  The two schools have been playing for possession of the Paul Bunyan axe trophy since 1948 and none of the Gophers on the 2009 team has ever won it.

Minnesota hasn’t won a trophy game against Wisconsin, Iowa or Michigan since 2006 when the Gophers beat Iowa. The Badgers have been winning the axe a lot during the last two decades but that doesn’t mean tomorrow’s game doesn’t have plenty of significance for them, too.

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This month will long be remembered for Brett Favre’s first game as a Viking against the Packers, but these are also the days that he nears the “Big Four-Oh!”  Favre’s 40^th birthday is October 10 and it’s remarkable he can still perform at a high level after 18-plus seasons in the NFL.

How long will he play pro football and be outstanding doing it?  At a news conference yesterday the Viking quarterback didn’t address those issues directly but said his season two years ago (at age 38) was “probably” his best.

While talking about last year and then the off-season Favre said:  “If people say I can’t, that really doesn’t matter.  What matters is what I feel.  But believe me I don’t want to go out and not play well.  I would never attempt to play if I didn’t think that I could play at a high-enough level.”

Favre’s arm problems last season with the Jets and then during this off-season are well documented but he’s been impressive in three starts with the 3-0 Vikings as they head into Monday night’s game (circus?) at the Metrodome against his old team, Green Bay.  Favre has a sore right foot but is expected to play.

In last Sunday’s game against the 49ers Favre took a lot of hits, partially because he attempted 46 passes.  “I was pretty sore,” he said.  “Some of it was self-inflicted though.  I still bounce back quickly, not as quickly as I used to. This past week I was hit a little bit more, not to mention there was 80 plays, and not 80 plays with 10 being kneel-downs and killing the clock.  It was a fight to the finish. I’ve never been as beat after a game as I was the other day.  I had nothing left.”

Vikings’ coach Brad Childress knows Favre has been extraordinarily durable, starting 272 consecutive NFL games.  While answering a question about whether Favre can make it through 16 games Childress said:  “He does a good job taking care of his body. He does a great job of studying the game.  When you take care of your body that way you know you got a chance. It is a violent game and you can’t get around that. All you have to do is take a look at the injury report every week.”

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When the Twins play their last game in the Metrodome on Sunday against Kansas City, they say goodbye to one of the best home field advantages in the history of pro sports.  The quirky place gave the Twins an edge including in two World Series championships that were won in game sevens at home.  The 1991 World Series against Atlanta is arguably one of the greatest ever.  The dome was frequently a place in which opponents found it difficult to see the ball in the air and on occasion was totally deafening.  To the Twins the place could be inspirational.

The dome was a financial silver bullet for the Twins who never drew more than 1.5 million at Met Stadium, the franchise’s home from 1961-1981.  Original team owner Calvin Griffith saw attendance increase from 469,090 in 1981 to 921,186 in 1982.  A few years later owner Carl Pohlad counted the cash when the Twins became the first American League franchise to draw over three million fans.

The dome may have prevented franchise relocations by the Twins and/or the Vikings.  Moving to a covered facility boosted attendance for both teams.

While the Twins will play in a full stadium with more than 50,000 fans on Sunday, their last game ever at Met Stadium (also against Kansas City) drew only about 16,000 in 1981.

Gophers’ coach John Anderson hopes to have a new baseball stadium no later than three years from next spring when the program is celebrating its 125^th anniversary.  Baseball is the oldest sport on the University of Minnesota campus.

If Badger fans buy football tickets from University of Minnesota students for tomorrow’s game, they face an obstacle for entrance into TCF Bank Stadium.  They will have to show photo identification as a Minnesota student.

Gopher quarterback Adam Weber said Wisconsin and Minnesota were his two final choices for college.  The former Mounds View High School player said that for the final decision his Minnesota background was too significant not to become a Gopher.  His dad Bobby Weber played for the Gophers, although he grew up in Wisconsin and attended medical school at UW Madison.

Weber said his roommate, Eric Decker, feels like he has two years to “make up for” when the Gophers play Wisconsin tomorrow.  Decker, now a senior, was injured and couldn’t play in last year’s 35-32 loss in Madison.

Decker now ranks sixth in Big Ten history with 212 career receptions.

Nate Tice, the former Edina High School quarterback and son of ex-Gophers coach Mike, is a walk-on with Wisconsin.  Nate started his college career at Central Florida, and then left for junior college before joining the Badgers earlier this year.  He’s a sophomore quarterback.

The Badger offense is 16-for-16 in scoring opportunities inside the 20 yard line this season.  Texas, best in the nation, is 23-for-23.

Minneapolis area resident Michele Tafoya will be a sideline reporter along with Suzy Kolber for Monday night’s ESPN Vikings-Packers game at the Metrodome.

All-time, the Packers have a 49-46-1 record against the Vikings.  The Vikings are 24-23 at home in the series that began in 1961.  In the last 23 games the Packers have outscored the Vikings by three points, 541-538.

Vikings’ rookie Percy Harvin leads the NFL in kickoff return yardage at 35.8.

Russell Gliadon of Saint John’s is one of 18 Division II and III players on the watch list for the annual Fred Mitchell Outstanding Place-Kicker Award.  The award is named for Fred Mitchell, the record-setting place-kicker, Wittenberg University Athletic Hall of Famer, author, philanthropist and Chicago Tribune sports columnist.

Canadian native Cory Joseph is one of six high school point guards with a five star rating by Rivals.com. The Gophers are in the chase for him and may have an edge because of family connections.  Brother Devoe will be a sophomore guard for the Gophers this season.  If Cory comes to Minnesota he not only can play for two years with his brother, but their mother won’t have to split travel time to two different schools to watch her sons play college basketball.

No decision has been made on who will be selected as the color commentator on Gophers radio broadcasts but a former Gopher seems a likely choice.

The Wild is 7-0-1 in home openers at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild hosts Anaheim on Tuesday and tickets are available.

Former Wild defenseman Martin Skoula recently signed a one-year contract with Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh after tryouts with Florida and Columbus.

Former Wild forward Marian Gaborik and other New York Rangers presented the “Top 10 List” earlier this week on the “Late Show with David Letterman.”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y859_hB2VLo&feature=player_embedded

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